France wants Google to invest in its internet

THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT has its eyes on Google's wallet and is asking whether the firm should kick in some sort of monetary tribute in exchange for running its adverts there.

The government, well, France's technology minister Fleur Pellerin, made the suggestion after a local ISP, called Free, began blocking ads of all kinds, including Google's.

Free was asked to stop doing this, but Pellerin is not leaving it there. Chiming in on discussions about whether the firm should pay to support the French internet she said that there is a "need to ask serious questions about how web companies can put some money into networks," according to Business Insider.

We've asked Google what it thinks about paying to support and maintain the French internet system. So far it has not replied.

Free had been blocking all ads, meaning that its subscribers were not exposed to enquiries about the size of their genitals or more legitimate adverts from companies served by Google and Yahoo.

The French ISP is said to have around five million customers, and according to reports the move is widely seen as a dig at Google, the firm that through services like Youtube places a lot of traffic on communications networks.

The BBC reports that Pellerin said that Free had agreed to stop blocking ads, adding, "no actor can jeopardize the digital ecosystem in a unilateral way." µ